A Resource for Equitable Classroom Practices

1 A Resource for Equitable Classroom Practices 2010 A Resource for Equitable Classroom Practices , 2010 Equity Initiatives Unit Office of Human Resources and Development montgomery county public Schools, Maryland TABLE OF CONTENTS Practice 1: Welcomes students by name as they enter the Practice 2: Uses eye contact with high- and low-achieving Practice 3: Uses proximity with high- and low-achieving students Practice 4: Uses body language, gestures, and expressions to convey a message that all student s questions and opinions are Practice 5: Arranges the Classroom to accommodate Practice 6: Ensures bulletin boards, displays, instructional materials, and other visuals in the Classroom reflect the racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds represented by Practice 7: Uses a variety of visual aids and props to support student Practice 8: Learns, uses, and displays some words in students heritage Practice 9: Models use of graphic Practice 10: Uses class building and teambuilding activities to promote peer support for academic Practice 11: Uses random response Practice 12: Uses cooperative learning Practice 13: Structures heterogeneous and cooperative groups for Practice 14: Uses probing and clarifying techniques to assist students to Practice 15: Acknowledges all students comments, responses, questions, and Practice 16: Seeks multiple Practice 17: Uses multiple approaches to consistently monitor students understanding of instruction, directions, procedures, processes, questions, and Practice 18: Identifies students current knowledge before Practice 19: Uses students real life experiences to connect school learning to students Practice 20: Uses Wait Practice 21: Asks students for feedback on the effectiveness of Practice 22: Provides students with the criteria and standards for successful task Practice 23.

2 Gives students effective, specific oral and written feedback that prompts improved Practice 24: Provides multiple opportunities to use effective feedback to revise and resubmit work for evaluation against the Practice 25: Explains and models positive Practice 26: Asks higher-order questions equitably of high- and low-achieving Practice 27: Provides individual help to high- and low-achieving A Resource for Equitable Classroom Practices , 2010 Equity Initiatives Unit Office of Human Resources and Development montgomery county public Schools, Maryland 3 Equitable Classroom Practices 2010 Equitable Classroom Practices 2010 is an expanded version of the Equitable Classroom Practices document originally distributed in 2006. Like the original version, this document elaborates on the qualities of the 27 specific, observable teacher behaviors that communicate high expectations to students through examples and non-examples.

3 This newer version includes research that supports the consistent and deliberate use of the Equitable Practices for African American and Hispanic students. The inclusion of this research is intended to further support staff reflection and discussion about how educators can be more conscious of and purposeful in incorporating best Practices to promote Equitable instruction for African American and Hispanic students. An extensive body of research from scholars and educators over the past 60 years indicates that expectations play a critical role in student achievement. Some students are more vulnerable to low expectations due to the societal biases and stereotypes associated with their racial and/or ethnic identity. Though educators do not intend to communicate low expectations, the evidence that these societal beliefs have a tangible negative effect on the performance and achievement of students of color is well documented.

4 Over time, low expectations not only hinder learning, but negatively affect students attitudes and motivation, resulting in self-fulfilling prophecies. Clearly, every educator must consciously and consistently demonstrate the specific, observable, and measurable behaviors and Practices to all students regardless of their current academic performance if we are to eliminate persistent racial disparities in student achievement. The Equitable Classroom Practices in this document reflect culturally responsive teaching. In her book, Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research, and Practice, Geneva Gay describes culturally reflective teaching as using the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference, and performance styles of ethnically diverse students to make learning encounters more relevant and effective for them (page 29). The Practices also reflect decades of research from the Teacher Expectations Student Achievement (TESA) Interaction Model, which stresses the importance of communicating high expectations through the provision of Equitable response opportunities, effective feedback, and the development of caring relationships.

5 The Equitable Classroom Practices described in this document are also aligned with the standards in the Teachers Professional Growth System (PGS). Evidence and examples of Equitable Classroom Practices are described as well as the contrasting Practices that can perpetuate inequities in student achievement. Like the PGS, the Equitable Classroom Practices are research-based and the examples represent the best Practices for communicating high expectations to students. Equitable Classroom Practices is not an all-inclusive description of best instructional practice. The teacher behaviors and Practices in this document reflect the research for communicating high expectations to all students, particularly African American and Hispanic students. A Resource for Equitable Classroom Practices , 2010 Equity Initiatives Unit Office of Human Resources and Development montgomery county public Schools, Maryland 4 1.

6 Welcomes students by name as they enter the Classroom Research McKinley, in his study of Seattle public Schools, found that, Teachers who were successful in helping black students achieve at high levels were able to build positive, respectful relations with and demonstrate caring for their students. That begins with the correct naming of names at the Classroom door. Making the effort to accurately pronounce students names is a gesture of respect, both of the student and of his or her culture. In many cultures, the giving of names is freighted with symbolic significance, and to mispronounce that name is to diminish it and its bearer. In The Dream-Keepers, Gloria Ladson-Billings identifies a characteristic common to successful teachers of African-American students: Teachers with culturally relevant Practices are careful to demonstrate a connectedness with each of their students. Instead of idiosyncratic and individualistic connections with certain students, these teachers work to assure each student of his or her individual importance.

7 Equity Training and Development Team. (2007). A place where everyone knows your name. Retrieved November 2008, from MCPS website: Examples Non-examples Asks students for correct pronunciation of their names Correctly pronounces students names Does not greet students at the door Mispronounces students name Does not alter students names without student consent Acknowledges only high performing students and/or behaviorally compliant students by name A Resource for Equitable Classroom Practices , 2010 Equity Initiatives Unit Office of Human Resources and Development montgomery county public Schools, Maryland 5 2. Uses eye contact with high- and low-achieving students Research A culturally related pattern that may be misinterpreted by teachers is the differing connections between speaking, listening, and making eye contact. The conventional pattern of eye contact among white native English speakers is to make eye contact while listening, but to avert the gaze while speaking.

8 For some non-White groups, however, this pattern is reversed, keeping eye contact while speaking, and looking elsewhere when listening. Teachers must therefore be careful not to misconstrue behaviors in students of differing races or ethnic groups. What teachers may interpret as inattentiveness or rudeness may simply be an alternative, culturally based pattern of eye contact .. To be Equitable in a Classroom , a teacher needs to be sensitive to the cultural norms and interpretations of even such a simple behavior as making eye contact, but must also be aware of the expectations messages this gesture can send to students. Harris Cooper, in his groundbreaking and extensive research on the connection between teacher expectations and student performance, found that teachers varied the amount of eye contact they made with their students, depending on how they perceived the ability of those students. Teachers appeared to create a warmer socio-emotional atmosphere in their Classroom for those students that they perceived as bright.

9 A prime element of this atmosphere was that teachers were observed to lean toward brights and look them in the eyes more frequently than they did with students that they perceived to be slow. Equity Training and Development Team. (2007). Eye Contact. Retrieved November 2008, from MCPS website: Examples Non-examples Makes culturally appropriate eye contact with all students Does not make eye contact with all students Does not understand culturally-based patterns of eye contact A Resource for Equitable Classroom Practices , 2010 Equity Initiatives Unit Office of Human Resources and Development montgomery county public Schools, Maryland 6 3. Uses proximity with high- and low-achieving students equitably Research Ladson-Billing notes, Although it has been suggested that teachers unconsciously favor those students perceived to be most like themselves in race, class, and values, culturally relevant teaching means consciously working to develop commonalities with all the students.

10 Part of this consciousness should include teacher self-monitoring of their use of proximity, being certain not to positively gravitate to students like them for social contact and academic reinforcement and, for disciplinary reasons, not to negatively hover over students who may differ from them. Effective teachers, as Fred Jones puts it, work the crowd. By doing so, they consistently shift their proximity to each of their students. While research shows numerous positive outcomes from the use of proximity, teachers often underestimate the importance and effectiveness of this simple strategy that supports Classroom management, student attention, lesson momentum, feedback on student performance, and relationship-building. Equity Training and Development Team. (2007). Proximity. Retrieved November 2008, from MCPS website: Examples Non-examples Circulates around student work areas to be close to all students Remains in the same area or part of the room A Resource for Equitable Classroom Practices , 2010 Equity Initiatives Unit Office of Human Resources and Development montgomery county public Schools, Maryland 7 4.